January assessment: Learner response

1) Type up your feedback in full in a new blogpost called 'January assessment learner response' 

30=C

WWW: This starts superbly, the first half is A grade with brilliant focus on the question, excellent depth to the responses and good use of media terminology and theory.

EBI: One improvement required is paragraphs! Aim for 3/4 paragraphs per question. You lost your way in q 3/4. Revision, practice and planning will help with this. If it asks about audience appeal, we need to think about audience pleasures.

Read the Mark scheme and Examiners' Report for the Sussex Safer Roads MEST1 exam.

Why does the film appeal to such a wide audience?

This short film manages to appeal to a broad audience in a myriad of ways. To begin, perhaps the most apparent technique was the omission of dialogue. This makes the advert non-language specific and subsequently appeal globally. Instead, the directors have decided to use the characters’ facial expressions, symbols (e.g the bowl smashing) and music to direct the message of the advert. To elaborate on the message of the video, we ca see that it is very simple. This appeals to a large audience because of how direct and hard hitting it is.

We could also argue the use of a family here is also relevant. This makes the advert fit into Dyer’s lines of appeal (family line of appeal.) This heightens the appeal of the advert because audiences prefer watching content with a positive impression. Also, Blumler and Kats’ theory of gratifications also applies here. They suggested that people use the media to fulfil specific gratifications. In this case, it is suggested that this advert classifies under ‘educate.’ This refers to being able to acquire information, knowledge and understanding. Also, it could fit into ‘entertain.’ This is perhaps because stylistically, the video was filmed in a way that made it appear aesthetically pleasing to audiences.

Another aspect of the advert is the final, positive outcome. This helps it appeal to a large audience because it creates a more immense emotional impact. In addition, the use of o age limits, created by using a child, also helps it appeal to a wider audience e.g mothers. Finally, brevity is apparent here. It enables the content to be shared onto more and larger platforms, resulting in an arise of engagement.